[jyl]

Double edged sword.

On the one hand, we can do do much with this technology. In my pocket I have the world wide web, all my email, all my appointments, instant messages to/from family and friends and coworkers, real-time portfolio and market data, music, books, newspapers, the most powerful HP calculator ever made, a pretty good camera and video recorder, a lightmeter, a level, GPS navigation, decibel meter, on and on - it is 1/2" thick and barely larger than a playing card. I can talk to it in one language snd it will translate to another. Tell it to do things and it does them. Write Chinese. Draw a picture. This was the stuff of science fiction not long ago.

On the other hand, more capabilities means more responsibilities. I'm expected to be always reachable. There's really no such thing as a day off. No matter where I am, I'm supposed to be as on top of data, events, actions as if I were at my desk. We have just one assistant per six or seven of us.

I wouldn't mind being back in, let's say, the 1920s. There were air mail and telegrams. You took weeks to study an issue and make decisions. Right now, a week is a long time; a day or part of a day is more the norm; sometimes minutes. We have vast amounts of data, but it feels like we act on instinct just as much as ever.